Paint the paint

Anabella Flores, foreground, and Yvonne Elmendorf roll paint over the graffiti that covers fences and walls in an alley off of 14th Avenue South in South Park on Monday, July 30, 2007. (Andy Rogers/P-I)

Members of the Seattle Police Department and volunteers from several community groups within the South Park neighborhood took part in a large-scale graffiti clean-up that lasted hours and managed to temporarily eradicate tagging that in some cases covered entire walls and fences. Notices were left for property owners in the weeks leading up to the clean-up, informing them that the work would be done.

Nearly all of the graffiti was of the “tag” variety, rather than colorful works of street art. A painting of flowers was left on one wall, while tags were erased on the same surface. Although some may see the project as just creating fresh canvas for taggers, Officer Darin Chinn of the Seattle Police Department asserts that if the community continues to battle the grafitti, taggers will eventually give up.